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Saturday, April 30, 2011

So, I've had an idea to add a little structure to my blog. Here's what I had in mind.

Monday will now be deemed: Mock Yourself Out Monday...Knocking off ridicuously overpriced items for a fraction of the price is one of my very most favorite pasttimes. So, I've decided to post a fabulous knock-off project and/or tutorial every Monday...okay let's get real, almost every Monday. Hooray, for copying other people!

Thursday will now be known as: Thrifty Throwdown Thursday... I can't think of anything that makes me giddier than a great deal, a fabulous find, or an awesomely cheap revamp. So, on Thursday's I will highlight some of my favorite thrifty things...might be something as simple as a vintage platter I picked up or something as awesome as a vintage head and footboard from the fifties that Studly "accidentally" backed over in the garage{he says he didn't mean to, but I'm skeptical. I know how he feels about all my precious cargo cluttering his dumb garage} . The thing was totally freaktastic and I purchased it for a mere $8. Awesome, I know. RIP my precious. Pretty much anything goes, so long as it is thrifty.

Saturday shall henceforth be called: Saturday Shop Spotlight...I have really been neglecting the shop lately...almost as much as my kiddies. Just kidding. Okay maybe I hide from them occasionally. But sometimes mama just needs a few minutes alone in the closet to restore health and energy units, by way of scarfing down a cupcake or guzzling down a {insert diet caffienated beverage here}. Anywho, every Saturday I will showcase a project I'm working on for the shop.

What do you think? Sound good? Great.

Well then, now for my first offical SSS, or {Saturday Shop Spotlight}.

Allow me to introduce you to my new beauty...Brie {yes, she is named after the French cheese. I really, really love cheese.}

I love how she turned out and I will be very said to say good bye, I mean au-revoir when I take her down to the shop. But, the hubs would surely divorce me if I tried to sneak in any more furniture.

In case you were wondering, she is painted in Krylon's Ocean Blue...my favorite color of all time.

And I followed the usual steps of sanding, priming then painting.

The thing I love most about her are the little key hole details in the middle of each drawer...such a fun and unique embellishement, methinks.

The hardware was a steal.I found them at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. I like that they are not a typical cup pull...square instead of rounded. Unlike most hardware, these pulls were screwed on from the front and secured with a washer and nut from the back. Becuase they didn't come with screws I had to use what I could find at the home improvement store. I was left with an unsightly silver screw head on the front of the hardware.

The solution is simple enough...paint them. But I have this thing about wanting my furniture pieces, especially the pieces I sell, to be really durable. I was afraid that regular latex or craft paint would chip off after a few uses, so I racked my brain til the light bulb went off...black finger nail polish.It is enamel based so it dries super hard and it comes built in with a cute little brush-perfect for painting dainty screw heads. That's my tip of the day...you're welcome.

I love using decals on furniture. They are super easy and can make a piece much more visually interesting. I suppose one could hand paint the piece, but that talent is not part of my skill set so I use big stickers instead.

I'm more of an England fan than a France fan, but I still think the Eiffel Tower looks great.

Well, there she is. If any of you would like to adopt her, feel free to stop by the shop.

Friday, April 29, 2011

I've been back from vacation for a few days now, but didn't want to post anything until I actually had something to post about.

I suppose I could have shared some "highlights" from the vacation, but I wanted to wait until I saw my therapist first. Just kidding, I don't have a therapist, but I should probably find one...and the kids and Studly too, after our week long debaucle. Perhaps I'll post about it a little later.

Til then, let's discuss artwork. I've spent most of the week working on some custom artwork for the nursery. Here's a peek.

The bedding in the room is from IKEA and has these fun, whimsical animals on them, so I decided to pull from that. With a {slightly creepy} zebra head already adorning the space it seemed only fitting to incorporate an animal theme, no?

I am a big fan of vintage storybook illustrations and so I tried to also incorporate a slightly vintage feel to the characters.

This is Frog.

I think he may be my favorite. I love his little bowtie and ridiculously, long legs.

I ended up using the panels from some old bifold doors as my canvas. Why? Cause they were available {just laying in the garage} which also meant they were free!

I used to be a big time scrapbooker, so I decided to create the artwork using a combination of paint and paper. I love incorporating depth and texture by layering patterned or textured paper rather than plain, solid colored paper. I also fashioned a 3-D bowtie out of paper just to add another element of interest {we'll see how long it actually stays on him}.

This is Bear. I made her a princess...obviously because my little darling is one...demanding and bossy.

This is Cow.

And finally, this is Elephant.

Check out those cankles!

The best part about his project, aside from finally having some artwork, was the price. I got the bulk of the paper for 25 cents a piece at Joann's. I used 3-4 pieces of paper per panel. Which means that I only ended up spending $4-5 on the entire project.

What have we learned from all of this? Utilize what you have lying around the house {left over paint, scrapbooking paper, scrap board etc} before running out and buying something. Not only is custom art one-of-a-kind, it's more sentimental and as shown here can be super cheap.

I have a decorative molding treatment I wanna try on the wall before I can hang them up...along with a few other projects. So, stay tuned for the wild {animal kingdom} reveal.

Friday, April 15, 2011

All righty peeps. I'm turning the laptop off and getting the heck out of dodge cause...the fam and I are headed out on a family "vacation".

It will be EPIC...once the benadrylkicks in and the {10} hour drive is behind us. From then on it will be fun in the sun & sand in SoCal {a perfectly timed getaway I might add}.

Two days ago, number {5} tripped and fell into the corner of my nightstand which resulted in ONE. EXTREMELY. TRAUMATIC. STITCH... which she somehow managed to yank out by days end.

I know it may seem a little inhumane, but I think that the pediatricians should really consider using dog cones so as to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

Granted they are a little awkward and unsightly, but it's temporary, unlike the scar she will sport on her face...forever. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, her cast had been off approximately {22} hours when the incident occured. And before you go sicking DCFS on me let me just say that I really am an attentive mother, I just have ridiculously, overactive and busy children. I will post testimonials on my behalf when I get back.

On a happier note, the count down is on, which means that in less than {5} hours I can remove all of the padding and protective headware from the kid and we can start our journey injury free...although there is the {10} second walk to the car that has me concerned.

As for you, my dear bloggy peeps, prepare to have your Depends blown off when I get back, cause I plan on putting my renewed vigour and energy to good use...after the kiddie hangover has passed, that is.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

So, this post has absolutely nothing to do with decorating or thrifting or being frugal. Today it's all about retail therapy.

Four weeks ago number {5} broke her leg...on the trampoline.

What? You know what, you can just take those crusty stares and shove 'em where the sun don't shine!

I'll have you know that buckle fractures are quite common amongst youngsters, okay? Especially clumsy youngsters. So cut me some flippin' slack.

Sorry, I didn't mean to take my frustrations out on you. It's just that I'm tired of people sharing their opinions about trampolines and why they aren't safe and blah, blah, blah. I grew up flipping around on a trampoline and aside from the occasional crotch crusher {aka spring straddle} and suicide flip {almost landing on one's neck when undercorrecting a flip} I turned out just fine, uh-hum.

Anywho, today the cast was finally removed...oh blessed day. And to celebrate the ending of number {5}'s one shoed style streak we did a little shopping...just because.

How cute are these little shoes? And the little feet in them?

Ahh, it's so good to see her in both shoes.

Who ever the genius was that coined the phrase..."you're never fully dressed without a second shoe" was totally right on {it was me by the way}. The poor thing has looked totally neglected for the past month...no baths, missing shoes and running {I use the term loosely} around in onesies {in near freezing temperatures mind you}because nothing else would fit over her stump.

I figured that since I was the one who carried the kid around for the past four weeks , I deserved a new pair of shoes too. {The back is the cutest part, which you can't really see.}

Even though I cannot see your faces, I know you all are mesmorized by my curvalicious, snaggle toe. And no comments on my crappy pedi.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Yay! My once hideous bathroom has finally embraced the 2ooo's. There are a few little things that still could use some tweaking/replacing, but I am calling it finished for the time being. If you have forgotten what the space looked like prior to updating allow me to refresh your memory. Brace yourselves.

Depressing right? Now I know why I've needed so much sugar since moving into this house... because everytime I walked passed this room all the life and energy was sucked out of my person. But not anymore.

Here's the new...and much improved space now.

Better right? Is it weird that everytime I walk by it now I want to go inside, lock the door and imagine that I'm at a quaint little beach house. All I can hear is the sound of the seagull's screeching and waves crashing on the shore ...no wait that's just the kids duking it out in the hallway and the overactive boiler downstairs...but whatever.

I commandeered this shutter from the {his and her nursery}. I realize that I just put them up a few months ago, but I am constantly rearranging things. I think I have unusual amounts of pent up nervous energy or ADD...possibly both. But I like it much better as this towel rack.

I timed this project just right, because Hobby Lobby had all of their hooks and knobs on sale 50 percent off this week. Holla!!! I got these assorted hooks for $10.

I really like the {collected over time} look. And even though I bought all of these hooks new, the fact that none of them are the same lends itself to that effect.

I am really loving the dry brushed cabinets. I think they pull the whole space together. Painting them was the best spent twenty minutes of my life...almost.

I was really torn on the hardware. Should I pick something worn and distressed like the cabinets or go completely opposite? I decided to do the opposite. I really like the juxtoposition of the old and faded cabinets with the new and bold hardware.

I had this old mirror sitting in the basement. It just happened to fit the space over the cabinets perfectly.

The nook over the pot is kind of a weird space. It's really tall and narrow. I had these old crates hanging out in the garage and thought they would fit the space nicely.

I filled them up with all sorts of beachiness.

My sis gave me these cool old bottles. I topped them off with seashells for a more beachy look.

Look at all of that dirt. I'm not usually a fan of grime, but I think it works well here.

Super cheap seashell art that I made from dollar store shells and an old picture frame.

A jar of seashells.

And a jar of starfish.

And some coral.

And some more seashell topped bottles.

I've always wanted a chandelier in my bathroom. Why? I don't know. I guess because it's something a little out of the ordinary. The fact that it's turquoise is even better.

Oooh, I found this precious at the thrift store for $5. When I saw it I knew it would be the perfect step stool for the kiddies.

I really hated the navy blue and forest green tile that accented the tub surround so I decided to make a simple shower curtain out of layered strips of muslin to hide it.

It's light and airy...perfect for a beachy chic bathroom.

One of my favorite accessories are these old bars of soap in cute, turquoise boxes. I found them stashed away at my grandma's house. Now when I look at them I will think of her...coincidentally, she is the sweetest woman I've ever known and the soap is called sweet heart soap...AHHHHHHH.

When I started the project I wanted to spend as little money as possible...around $50. I think I came pretty close. Here's the breakdown: $10 for hooks, $23 for knobs {also half off at Hobby Lobby}, $1 for seashells, $6 for starfish, $5 for the chandelier, $12 for muslin for the shower curtain, $5 for storage jars, $5 for the stool and nothing for the twigs, soap, frames, mirror and bottles. The grand total ended up being $67. I went a little over budget, but it's still not too shabby for a complete bathroom makeover.